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The Martyrdom of Philip Strong Synopsis

"Man, you are a living lie." Thus is Philip Strong, the rising young pastor of a fashionable Calvary Church, addressed by Brother Man (symbolizing the Spirit of Christ on earth). Surrounded by luxury, lionized by a wealthy congregation, Philip Strong suddenly realizes the force of these words. He has been preaching the doctrines of Christ, but his work has been the work of bare words only. To prove the truth of what he says. Brother Man leads Philip to the slums, and shows him the misery and squalor of a world which he has never known. The starving women and children, the kitchens of Hell where whiskey ruins the lives of men, impresses Philip deeply. He sees his real mission in life. He must help the downtrodden. Sarah, Philip's wife, wrapped in her social ambition, is horrified when Philip announces his determination. She refuses to permit her little daughter, Irma, to play with an orphaned child of the slums, whom Philip has brought home to shelter. She pleads with Philip to give up his new work. It means ruin and social ostracism. She scolds and bursts into a rage of fury, but Philip is firm. Goaded on by her mother, who pictures the disgrace of Philip's close association with the slums, Sarah leaves the home, taking Irma with her. Time finds Philip living in the slums, immersed in his work. Fighting the battle of the downtrodden, he arouses the hate of powerful forces. The rich of his congregation, owning the properties which house saloons, and the owners of these saloons, combine to bring about his downfall. Undaunted by threats of personal harm, he wages his war. Cheered by Brother Man in the moments when things seem most hopeless, he fights his battle with new energy. His friends gone, his little daughter dead, the wife whom he loves opposing him, he fights on. Scenting an opportunity to discredit him, the interests cause Sarah to believe that Loreen, a consumptive derelict, whom he has redeemed and sheltered in his home, is his mistress. The story is disproved and Sarah relents, but too late. The body bearing the spirit of Philip is not equal to the task. Wrecked by worry and ill-health, he gives up his life and his soul passes to the One Whose work he has been doing, and like Whom he has been crucified.

Meg o' the Mountains Synopsis

Meg lived down in Carolina in the shadow of the great Blue Ridge. When she had been a little younger she had been winsomely and strangely beautiful, a gypsy-like elf of the woods and forests. Now, she is mad. The neighbors said cruel things about Meg and turned their faces aside when she passed. And from her little son, they shrank, and turned away as from a thing accursed. When Hugh Gregory opened a store in the little mountain town and fell in love with the widowed Darthea Westerly, he incurred the bitter hatred of Simon Grant, who had long courted Darthea. When Meg's little son ran away, and Gregory found him, and gave him back to his mother, the crazed woman thought she recognized in him the father of her boy. When she returned home she told her brother that she had found her child's father. The brother, infuriated, confronted Gregory, and demanded that he marry his sister. Gregory, naturally, refused indignantly. Simon Grant met Jake, Meg's brother, while he was still half insane with rage over Gregory's refusal, and found him in a willing mood to listen to Simon's scheme. The next day, as Gregory and the colonel were riding together, Jake, egged on by Simon, fired at them from a barn. Gregory proved himself a good Samaritan by saving Jake from the infuriated mob which thirsted for his life. Meanwhile. Darthea, who had fallen in love with Gregory, learned of Meg's terrible accusation against him. The story naturally changed her feelings toward the man, particularly when Gregory, realizing the futility of argument, refused to say a word in his own defense. Then suddenly Meg came upon Simon Grant, and with a miraculous flash of understanding, remembered that he, not Gregory, was the man. But with the passing of her madness, Meg's life fluttered and went out like a candle in the wind, but not before she had told Gregory and Darthea the truth.